Definition
Lore is everything your world knows about itself: the old wars, the founding myths, the legendary heroes, the reason that bridge is cursed, and the story grandmothers tell children before bed. It's the deep background that makes a world feel like it existed before page one and will keep existing after the last chapter. Lore doesn't all need to appear on the page, but the best of it seeps through in character knowledge, cultural habits, and offhand references that make readers feel there's always more to discover.
Why It Matters
Lore creates the feeling of depth. When a character mentions an old war in passing, or avoids a forest 'because of what happened there,' readers sense that the world is bigger than the story. That feeling is addictive for readers and it's one of the main reasons people re-read fantasy novels. The trick is making lore feel organic rather than like a textbook you're forcing the reader to study.
Types of Lore
Famous Examples
Tolkien is the patron saint of lore. Middle-earth's history stretches back thousands of years, and the depth of that backstory gives every location and artifact weight.
In-game books, conflicting historical accounts, and unreliable narrators create layers of lore that players can spend hundreds of hours exploring.
Sanderson reveals lore gradually through epigraphs, in-world texts, and character discoveries, making the uncovering of history a central pleasure of the series.
Common Mistakes
Scatter lore through the story in small, natural moments. A character's offhand reference to an old battle teaches the reader more effectively than a three-page history lesson.
The best lore does double duty: it enriches the world and it sets up, explains, or complicates something in the present-day plot.
Real history is disputed, misremembered, and politically motivated. Let different cultures in your world disagree about what happened. Unreliable lore is more interesting than a textbook.
Try It Yourself
Write three versions of the same historical event in your world, each told by a different source: an official history book, a folk song, and a grandmother's bedtime story. Spend 15 minutes total. Notice how each version reveals different priorities and biases. Pick the version that's most useful to your plot.
Never lose a piece of lore again
Novelium's story bible lets you catalog every legend, historical event, and forgotten secret in your world, and find it instantly when you need it mid-draft.